Edmonton Oilers newest edition Quinn Hutson makes NHL debut against Kings

Quinn Hutson was expecting to get a crash course in the NHL this week, just not a literal one, thankfully.

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Between appearing in Saturday’s NCAA championship final with Boston University, and making his way to Rogers Place for his NHL debut with the Edmonton Oilers against the Los Angeles Kings on Monday, the 23-year-old native of Chicago might have felt like he was flying by the seat of his proverbial pants.

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But, hey, at least he was still airborne, which sure beats the alternative.

And he came too close for comfort to finding out what that might have looked like when the plane he was on had an engine catch fire on the way to Edmonton.

Denver-based 9News reported United Airlines flight UA2325, which took off from Denver International Airport at 7:21 p.m. on Sunday, had to be diverted back in order to address a “possible wildlife strike” on the Boeing 737-600.

“It was a little crazy flying out of Denver to here. We were supposed to take off at 7:30, and taking off, the engine caught on fire,” said Hutson, the older brother of Montreal Canadiens rookie defenceman Lane Hutson, and Washington Capitals prospect Cole Hutson. “So, emergency landing. A little scared there for a second, but I still made it.

“I wasn’t (a nervous flier), I usually make jokes about it all the time but that’ll get you. I’ll stop making jokes about it now.”

While none of the 153 passengers or six crewmembers were injured, Hutson didn’t end up touching down in Edmonton until 1 a.m.

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But he was all smiles after coming off the ice from his first morning skate in Oilers attire — or as smiley as it gets for someone who lost the Frozen Four final game to the Western Michigan University Broncos two days earlier.

“Obviously I’m still thinking about it. It sucks to lose making it that far in the season and coming up short, so I guess this is just a good way to forget about it,” he said. “But it’s definitely still there in the back of my head.

“A lot of nerves even going out for that skate right there. Pretty nervous, but that’s just part of the game. I want to go out there, play a safe game and just stick to what I usually do.”

Hutson, ahem, parachutes into the lineup at a time when the roster is replete with casualties, including captain Connor McDavid, who just came back from a lower-body injury but is sitting out the back half of the back-to-back instead of playing three games in four nights.

Add top defenceman Mattias Ekholm, whom we just found out won’t be available for the opening playoff round against the Kings, Jake Walman, Troy Stecher and John Klingberg, along with forwards Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, Trent Frederic and Evander Kane, and there are almost as many Oilers sitting out as on the ice.

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To top it all off, they had to go with an 11 and six format against the Kings because of salary-cap constraints.

So, it’s no surprise the Oilers had to reach way back into their bag of tricks to come up with some cavalry to send in as reinforcements. Not that Hutson is complaining.

“I think it’s just a great spot and a great opportunity here,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of opportunities to develop here. Obviously, it’s an unbelievable set-up and I’m just excited to get started.”

He’s not just filling skates for the sake of it. Hutson has a chance to gain some valuable experience in the final two regular-season games before no longer being eligible to play with the team in the playoffs.

“It’s great having him here. Unfortunately, the situation of all the injuries and not having our team and we’re going to be playing a forward short, but it’s an excellent opportunity for him to play. We’ll need him,” Knoblauch said. “I think he’s a very smart hockey player, and smart hockey players can fit in and play with whomever.

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“I’m not familiar with his game. I’ve got some scouting reports on him and Stan (Bowman, Oilers general manager) has told me a little bit about him, but I think he’ll be playing off a lot of emotion and he’ll give us a little boost.”

E-mail: [email protected]

On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge

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